I currently have about 2300 bf of mostly oak that I bought at a farm
auction a couple of years ago. They were in the farmers barns in 3
different piles, dry and full of bug and mouse crap. I knocked off the
crap and put them in a self store garage. Now I'm thinking of bringing
them home.
Problem is, I don't have any inside storage for all this wood (all rough
sawn). What would I need to do to store this wood outside in Wisconsin?
A good deal of it would wind up on the firewood pile (maybe 25%, maybe
more). it was stickered with 3/8 lath, and thats what I have in it now
since it was already dry. Should I use 1"? what do I do to protect it, a
tarp down the sides (no air circulation), or a corrugated panel roof
(more exposure to elements)?
John
Being from Wisconsin storage of Oak outside is done by alternate
stacking of the rough sawn lumber. You need air to circulate through
the pile. You can cover the top with cheap plastic, some milk jugs for
weight on nylon rope. This is just to keep excessive moisture out of
the wood. This is a natural drying processing that was done for years
in Wisconsin with oak. Your moisture content will go down each year.
If you asked around in your area or know where this practice is done
see if you can borrow a moisture content meter. Use cheap 4 x 4's for
a base to keep your wood off from the ground. Again just the
alteration of the stacking is all that is necessary. This method takes
time for curing. You can try a google search on curing rough lumber
Doc Ferguson
On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 14:09:31 -0500, John T
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I currently have about 2300 bf of mostly oak that I bought at a farm
>auction a couple of years ago. They were in the farmers barns in 3
>different piles, dry and full of bug and mouse crap. I knocked off the
>crap and put them in a self store garage. Now I'm thinking of bringing
>them home.
>Problem is, I don't have any inside storage for all this wood (all rough
>sawn). What would I need to do to store this wood outside in Wisconsin?
>A good deal of it would wind up on the firewood pile (maybe 25%, maybe
>more). it was stickered with 3/8 lath, and thats what I have in it now
>since it was already dry. Should I use 1"? what do I do to protect it, a
>tarp down the sides (no air circulation), or a corrugated panel roof
>(more exposure to elements)?
>
>John
Keep it dry and up off the ground. A tarp is okay, although that
will only last so long. Be careful, wood piles can make perfect homes
for varmints.
"John T" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I currently have about 2300 bf of mostly oak that I bought at a farm
>auction a couple of years ago. They were in the farmers barns in 3
>different piles, dry and full of bug and mouse crap. I knocked off the crap
>and put them in a self store garage. Now I'm thinking of bringing them
>home.
> Problem is, I don't have any inside storage for all this wood (all rough
> sawn). What would I need to do to store this wood outside in Wisconsin? A
> good deal of it would wind up on the firewood pile (maybe 25%, maybe
> more). it was stickered with 3/8 lath, and thats what I have in it now
> since it was already dry. Should I use 1"? what do I do to protect it, a
> tarp down the sides (no air circulation), or a corrugated panel roof (more
> exposure to elements)?
>
Consult your fellow cheeseheads. http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/ and the search
box will get you various stacking routines, all of which involve a _flat_
base for a beginning, because less than will telegraph into your lumber.
Your problem has nothing to do with drying, so you can proceed directly to
storage of those boards you know are not destined for the stove. Why is you
want to bring the whole lot out of perfectly good storage ? The rent?
Yes, the rent is a problem. We originally were going to use the storage
for storage for an anticipated move, which never happened, so I put the
wood in there, which takes up most of the room, so we're not really
using it for what we intended.
I also thought of welding up some racks for the storage so I could stack
the lumber to the ceiling, and still may do that.
John
"John T" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I currently have about 2300 bf of mostly oak that I bought at a farm
>auction a couple of years ago. They were in the farmers barns in 3
>different piles, dry and full of bug and mouse crap. I knocked off the crap
>and put them in a self store garage. Now I'm thinking of bringing them
>home.
> Problem is, I don't have any inside storage for all this wood (all rough
> sawn). What would I need to do to store this wood outside in Wisconsin?
> (SNIP)
2300 bd feet is quite a bit of wood, why do you want to store it? If it is
already dry further storage is not going to improve it. If it were mine I
would get it planed, keeping only the boards I want for my own use and sell
the rest. Easier to store money than wood. If you end up with some really
nice boards I would avoid outside storage.
Earl Creel